Lesson 10: Izafe 3 (Two Nouns Together)
Now we’re almost ready to combine two nouns together in an izafe construction (something like “the door of the house”). But first we need to learn a couple of noun endings that will be used in these izafe constructions.
1. Plural Nouns
To make nouns plural, simply add –(y)an. For example:
| book = pirtûk | books = pirtûkan |
| villager = gundî | villagers = gundiyan |
NOTE: As we briefly mentioned in Lesson 4, the plural suffix is not used when the noun is the subject of the sentence. In this case, plurality is indicated by the verb. However, in other cases (for example, when the noun is the object of the verb, object of the preposition, the second part of the izafe construction), the plural suffix is added.
2. Oblique Endings
In Kurmanjı, nouns often take what is called an oblique ending (for example, when it is the object of the sentence, follows a preposition, etc.). In certain situations, nouns in izafe constructions take the oblique ending as well.
masculine oblique ending = î
feminine oblique ending = ê
plural oblique ending = an
Be careful! You may have noticed that the feminine oblique ending is the same as the masculine ending for head nouns in izafe constructions. This can create some confusion at first, so it’s important to go slowly and learn these endings well.
NOTE: In most cases, masculine nouns do not actually take on the oblique ending. The most common case in which the masculine oblique ending is used is when demonstrative pronouns (see Lesson 4 and Lesson 7) are used before the masculine noun in the oblique case. Don’t worry, we’ll give some examples shortly to illustrate what we mean.
Scroll through the slides below to see all forms.
Izafe with Two Nouns
In the simplest izafe construction that has two nouns, the first noun, or “head” noun, takes the izafe ending: ê or a (depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine).
The second noun, or noun modifier, takes the appropriate oblique ending: î or ê (depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine). However, don’t forget that unless there is a demonstrative pronoun, masculine modifier nouns in izafe constructions do NOT take the î ending.
By the way, names of females and place names (cities, countries, etc.) are grammatically feminine.
Examples:
Feminine Noun Modifier
| the girl’s book (book of the girl) | pirtûka keçê |
| the door of the library | deriyê pirtûkxaneyê |
| the color of the ball | rengê gogê |
| Berfin’s name | navê Berfînê |
| Mardin’s nights | şevên Mêrdînê |
| Helin’s teacher (fem) | mamosteya Hêlînê |
| the teacher’s (fem) voice | dengê mamosteyê |
Masculine Noun Modifier
(Remember, when masculine nouns are the noun modifier in the izafe construction, they do not normally take the oblique ending unless there is a demonstrative pronoun before the masculine noun.)
| the color of the door | rengê derî |
| the boy’s hair | porê law |
| Azad’s newspaper | rojnameya Azad |
| the farmer’s (masc) horse | hespê cotkar |
| Sozdar’s name | navê Sozdar |
| the son’s mother | diya kur |
| the teacher’s (masc) voice | dengê mamoste |
Plural Noun Modifier
| the girl’s books | pirtûkên keçan |
| the color of the doors | rengê deriyan |
| the students’ lessons | waneyên xwendekaran |
| the names of the teachers | navên mamosteyan |
| the mens’ faces | rûyên zilaman |
| the farmers’ work | karê cotkaran |
| the womens’ coffee | qehweya jinan |
NOTE: Some masculine nouns behave somewhat irregularly when they are the second noun in the izafe chain. They do not take the î ending unless they come after a demonstrative pronoun, but an internal vowel may change. For example,
Instead of navê bajar, the second “a” in bajar changes to “ê” and becomes navê bajêr.
Also, xanî becomes xênî. So, the door of the house is deriye xênî.
However, if the masculine noun follows a demonstrative pronoun, the internal vowel does not change.
So “the name of that city” is navê wî bajarî and “the door of that house” is deriyê wî xanîyî.
Izafe with Two Nouns and an Adjective
As with the izafe constructions we learned in previous lessons, you can also insert adjectives into these izafe chains that have two nouns.
Feminine Noun Modifier
| the girl’s red book | pirtûka keçê ya sor |
| the white door of the library | deriyê pirtûkxaneyê yê spî |
| Mardin’s cold nights | şevên Mêrdînê yên sar |
| Helin’s old teacher (female) | mamosteya Hêlînê ya kevn |
Masculine Noun Modifier
(Remember, when masculine nouns are the noun modifier in the izafe construction, they do not normally take the oblique ending unless there is a demonstrative pronoun before the masculine noun.)
| the boy’s short hair | porê law ê kin |
| Azad’s important newspaper | rojnameya Azad a girîng |
| the farmer’s (masc) black horse | hespê cotkar ê reş |
| the man’s old photograph | wêneyê zilam ê kevn |
Plural Noun Modifier
| the girl’s thick books | pirtûkên keçan ên stûr |
| the students’ long lessons | waneyên xwendekaran ên dirêj |
| the interesting names of the teachers | navên mamosteyan ên balkêş |
| the womens’ black coffee | qehweya jinan a reş |
Be careful! The placement of suffixes in izafe chains can significantly change the meaning. Move on to the next slide for explanation and examples.
Watch Out!
Be careful! The placement of suffixes in izafe chains can significantly change the meaning. Notice the difference between these examples.
We saw this example on the previous tab:
| the boy’s short hair | porê law ê kin |
However, if we simply attach the ê suffix after law to the word law, the meaning changes significantly.
| the short boy’s hair | porê lawê kin |
NOTE: In the example immediately above (porê lawê kin), the second ê in the chain modifies law (son) because it is attached to law. However, when the second ê is written separately, it refers back to por (hair). Of course, this can be difficult to detect in speech. Sometimes context makes the difference clear. Other times additional explanation is necessary in speech.
A few more examples:
| Fatma’s little son | kurê Fatmayê yê biçûk |
| little Fatma’s son | kurê Fatmaya biçûk |
| the cover of the red book | bergê pirtûka sor |
| the red cover of the book | bergê sor ê pirtûkê |
| my good friend’s (masc) home | mala hevalê min ê baş |
| my friend’s (masc) good home | mala baş a hevalê min |
| my son’s big ball | goga mezin a kurê min |
| my big son’s ball | goga kurê min ê mezin |
Izafe with Demonstrative Pronouns
We learned demonstrative pronouns in Lesson 4 and Lesson 7. Now we can insert these into izafe constructions.
Feminine Noun Modifier
| this girl’s book (book of this girl) | pirtûka vê keçê |
| the door of that library | deriyê wê pirtûkxaneyê |
| the color of this ball | rengê vê gogê |
| that teacher’s (fem) voice | dengê wê mamosteyê |
Masculine Noun Modifier
Remember, masculine modifier nouns take the oblique suffix when they follow a demonstrative pronoun.
| the color of this door | rengê vî derîyî |
| that boy’s hair | porê wî lawî |
| the newspaper of this Azad | rojnameya vî Azadî |
| the horse of that farmer (masc) | hespê wî cotkarî |
Plural Noun Motifier
| these girl’s books | pirtûkên van keçan |
| the color of those doors | rengê wan deriyan |
| these students’ lessons | waneyên van xwendekaran |
| the names of those teachers | navên wan mamosteyan |
Be Careful: When a demonstrative pronoun comes in the middle of an izafe chain, the endings can get a little confusing. For example:
| the color of that book | rengê wê pirtûkê |
BUT, if you add an adjective to describe the book, the ê on book has to change to a, but the ê on the demonstrative pronoun does not change.
| the color of that big book | rengê wê pirtûka mezin |
Wê and pirtûk are both feminine, but although pirtûk is the modifying noun in the izafe chain, in the second example it is also being modified by “big/mezin” so it has to take the “a” ending instead if ê.
A few more examples:
| the name of that old man | navê wî zilamê kal |
| the doors of those white houses | deriyên wan xaniyên spî |
| this young boy’s bread | nanê vî lawê ciwan |
| the students of that small village | xwendekarên wî gundê biçûk |
| the days of that long summer | rojên wê havîna dirêj |
Remember that these Quizlet sets allow for lots of study and test options. For an explanation of these options, see this page.
Lesson 03 Vocabulary Vocabulary Lesson 10 Audio
Remember that these Quizlet sets allow for lots of study and test options. For an explanation of these options, see this page.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3